Car wobbles on grooved pavement

rseldner · Post by **rseldner** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 4:43 pm

anyone else have this problem? Some parts of the highway are grooved concrete. Whenever i drive through these sections...my car wobbles. The faster i'm going, the more the car wobbles. It's kind of scary @ 70 mph. I drove my dad's card not too long ago and didn't experience any issues. What's up w/ my neon?

gtxtreme19 · Post by **gtxtreme19** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 4:59 pm

I've noticed it with every car I've ever driven usually on the grates across bridges. I think it has something to do with the grooves pulling your wheels back and forth

rseldner · Post by **rseldner** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:37 pm

my car feels REALLY unstable though. Not really sure what the deal is.

gtxtreme19 · Post by **gtxtreme19** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:57 pm

I've noticed it is a lot less noticeable with wider wheels/tires and vice versa with narrower tires/wheels

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 10:30 pm

car lowered? Could be bump steer.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 10:34 pm

You probably shouldn't be doing 70 over the grooved surfaces anyways. My cars have all done it too, nothing wrong with your car, it's just a construction zone telling you to slow the heck down.

lilnicko11 · Post by **lilnicko11** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:08 am

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:24 am

If your LCA bushings are bad, or a tie rod end is a little sloppy, it could make the problem much worse. also the rear lateral link bushings, etc would have an effect, if they are worn. Normally it will pull a little, but nothing to where you need to make big corrections.

A lot of grooved surfaces are just for winter use. (grooved with direction of travel.) They have nothing to do with construction. They groove curves in my area, to retain the salt/brine mixture, to keep ice from forming.

The ones Sean is referring to are across direction of travel.

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:25 pm

Probably something loose or worn in the suspension somewhere. I have no problem doing 130km on grooved pavement, still very stable. Although, the solid rear LCA bushing help a lot.

darthroush · Post by **darthroush** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 2:00 pm

What really freaked me out was right after I got done taking the whole front end apart and putting it back together, I drove on grooved highway, so I wasn't sure if it was because of the road, or a loose bolt. To me, it makes the steering seem loose since the car wonders a bit.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 2:01 pm

Probably the best thing is to go back over and double check your bolts then.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 2:38 pm

occasional demons wrote: A lot of grooved surfaces are just for winter use. (grooved with direction of travel.) They have nothing to do with construction. They groove curves in my area, to retain the salt/brine mixture, to keep ice from forming.

The ones Sean is referring to are across direction of travel.

I was going to say this yesterday, but it's pointless. Everyone on the internet is an expert

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 2:39 pm

Or we are assuming that's what he meant since that is not something done everywhere...

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:14 pm

First off, don't assume things that aren't explicitly stated. And second, I'm willing to bet they do it there and you don't realize it..

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:17 pm

That's possible, but if we assume nothing then the thread would get cluttered with thousands of questions and no answers since people cannot read and would not realize that the question they are already asking has been answered. Better to provide a possible solution in my opinion.

Haganracing · Post by **Haganracing** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:55 pm

Put air in your tires.

darthroush · Post by **darthroush** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 4:44 pm

TheRandom1 wrote:Probably the best thing is to go back over and double check your bolts then.

They were rechecked out of paranoia...last Spring when it happened.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 4:53 pm

It's been wobbling since last spring?

darthroush · Post by **darthroush** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 2:44 am

TheRandom1 wrote:It's been wobbling since last spring?

No, it did it because I was driving on a stretch of grooved concrete highway, so it caused the car to behave odd. Nothing was loose, it was just the timing of it kind of concerned me a bit.

rseldner · Post by **rseldner** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 12:38 am

TheRandom1 wrote:You probably shouldn't be doing 70 over the grooved surfaces anyways. My cars have all done it too, nothing wrong with your car, it's just a construction zone telling you to slow the heck down.

these aren't construction zones. there are parts of the highway where the surface is grooved concrete.

Just want to reiterate that I've only experienced this problem in my neon. The wobbling is pretty dramatic. No problems driving other cars. I'm thinking it's something with my suspension or my tires.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 7:28 am

Have you had your alignment checked?

vielecustoms · Post by **vielecustoms** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 7:46 am

mine does it too, it is worse on that black stuff that seals the cracks in the road, they make for a fun ride especially when it runs along the side of the travel lane (where the pass side tire hits it). of course after fixing all the crap suspention work from the PO I would not be suprised if there was something worn out.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 8:25 am

vielecustoms wrote:mine does it too, it is worse on that black stuff that seals the cracks in the road, they make for a fun ride especially when it runs along the side of the travel lane (where the pass side tire hits it). of course after fixing all the crap suspension work from the PO I would not be suprised if there was something worn out.

Fixed that for you...

rseldner · Post by **rseldner** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 3:23 pm

TheRandom1 wrote:Have you had your alignment checked?

just got an alignment this morning. they had to make some pretty big adjustments. going to hit up the highway later to see if that helps.

vielecustoms · Post by **vielecustoms** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:01 pm

TheRandom1 wrote:
vielecustoms wrote:mine does it too, it is worse on that black stuff that seals the cracks in the road, they make for a fun ride especially when it runs along the side of the travel lane (where the pass side tire hits it). of course after fixing all the crap suspension work from the PO I would not be suprised if there was something worn out.
Fixed that for you...

damn spell check

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:42 pm

Spelling is a pet peeve of mine.

gtxtreme19 · Post by **gtxtreme19** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:15 pm

On that note.... I iz goun to teh jonk yard tomaro dose neone want 2 com wit me?

Grats on fixin yo ride

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:16 pm

*twitch* That post could seriously tax my whole "be nice" thing... if I didn't know you weren't just being a smartass, that is.

gtxtreme19 · Post by **gtxtreme19** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:21 pm

That actually took more effort than using correct spelling, my Droid auto corrects EVERYTHING!

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:25 pm

DROID! Love mine!